Shaving Oil with Straight Razors?

Can You Use Shaving Oil with Straight Razors?

I know there are a lot of you die-hards out there that shun the multi-blade trends and instead reach for the old school straight razors and safety razors when it comes time to shave. I can respect that. Whenever one can adhere to non-disposable products that last longer, and work better, I believe that one should.

Not to mention, it just looks cool. Super vintage, kind of like collecting vinyl records or something, you know? So I figured I would try it out for myself, that decision was easy. The tougher question was whether or not this new razor would require me to leave behind my shave oil for the normal lathering process that it is typically associated with. Well, I still had some of the “Not The Perfect Shave” stuff that I had purchased for my previous blog entry, so I decided to first use a straight razor with the multi-product process, and then with TICO* Shave Oil.

Before I started this Pepsi Challenge, I needed a straight razor. I looked around and decided to get a Thiers Issard 5/8″ Singing Straight Razor. It was a bit of a splurge, but it was in the name of science, right? I had to make sure I had the right equipment in order to conduct this experiment.

So now to create a controlled experiment. Once the new razor arrived, I shaved with my usual Mach3 Razor & TICO* Shave Oil, and then waited for 48 hours. Next, I used the straight razor with the typical pre-shave, lather, and aftershave process. I waited another 48 hours and repeated the process, but this time I used the shave oil.

So how did it go?

The shave with the new straight razor in both cases was superior to the Mach III, but not my DE Razor. At first, you are looking at yourself in the mirror with this lethal device in your hands and visions of Sweeney Todd flash before your eyes as you bring it to your throat. After you get the hang of it though, it is very cool. You sure don’t want to be in a rush, as this is sharp as you know what. More importantly, I was not able to decipher better or worse results in the comparison of the two products. Of course the pre-shave, lather, aftershave process took much longer, and made for more of a hassle.

So in the end, I think I may try and start a new trend. One that combines the old school with the new school, and start shaving with a straight razor using TICO* Shave Oil. Wanna join me?